Key decision-making body the European Council has agreed to a proposed delay on the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) coming into force. By Leatherbiz.

The European Council, which consists of senior ministers from all 27 member states of the European Union, met in Brussels on October 16 to discuss a number of issues, including EUDR. It agreed on the proposal to postpone EUDR’s date of application by 12 months.

There still needs to be agreement on this from the European Parliament, but if that agreement emerges, the obligations stemming from the regulation will be binding from December 30, 2025, for large operators and traders, and from June 30, 2026, for small enterprises.

The Council said it hopes to have this agreement from the European Parliament before the end of 2024.

It said: “The targeted amendment will not affect the substance of the rules, which is to minimise the EU’s contribution to deforestation and forest degradation worldwide, by allowing only deforestation-free products to be placed on the EU market, or exported from the EU.”

It explained that deforestation-free products are products that have been produced on land that has not been subject to deforestation or forest degradation since the end of 2020 at least.